Witnesses, Security Video Suggest Train in Spain Was Going Too Fast

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) - Eyewitness accounts suggest that the train that derailed in Spain last night was going too fast as it went around a turn underneath a road bridge.

And those accounts are backed by security-camera footage of the derailment. The video shows the train carriages starting to buckle soon into the turn, with the first and second passenger cars leaving the tracks first. The engine itself quickly follows, violently tipping to its right side as it crashes into a concrete wall and bulldozes its way along the ground.

In the background, the rear cars can be seen starting to decouple and come off the tracks.

The death toll from the crash stands at 78. Hospital officials say 141 people were injured, and 36 of them remain in critical condition.

Spain's prime minister toured the crash scene today alongside rescue workers. He was born in Santiago de Compostela, the city where the wreck took place.

City officials, who had been preparing for the annual Catholic festival today, canceled the event and took control of the main sports stadium to use as a makeshift morgue. There, relatives of the dead could be seen sobbing and embracing each other.